'Electric' Par-3 Contest to be shown on ESPN

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Arron Oberholsercalled it his favorite part of the Masters. Ian Poulterraved about the atmosphere, with kids as caddies and holes in one and roars rattling off the pine trees.

"Awesome," Poulter said. "It's just electric over there."

Today, for the first time, television viewers will learn why many players embrace the annual Par-3 Contest at Augusta National. ESPN will carry the event live at noon (11 a.m. PDT on masters.org), showing off the picturesque, nine-hole, 1,060-yard layout, built in 1958 by architect George Cobband club co-founder Clifford Roberts.

Not everyone embraces the tradition: Tiger Woodsno longer participates, saying it distracts from his preparation for the tournament. Even players who enter do not take the competition too seriously, especially because of this: No player has won the contest and the tournament in the same year.

"Put it this way: If I'm standing on No. 9 and I'm on top of the leaderboard, I'm hitting to the middle of the green and my son can putt from there," Poulter said. "I am not posting a score."

For the record: Poulter's son, Luke, turns 4 in two months. When one reporter joked that little Luke could make the putt to give his dad the Par-3 victory, Poulter quickly said, "I'm putting my foot over the hole."

Phil Mickelsonwent the other way, saying he wants to end the streak. Mickelson good-naturedly blamed his Par-3 performance last year on his daughter, Sophia, saying, "My caddie gave me some terrible reads. Of course, she was only 5."

State of Phil: Mickelson enters the Masters in a rut. He won the PGA Tour event at Riviera in February, but since then, he has tied for 17th, tied for 21st, tied for 20th and tied for 23rd.

"I actually feel really good about my game, because my ball-striking has been good," Mickelson said. "The area I need to spend time is chipping and putting, and that's something I've never really been concerned about."

Augusta National obviously suits Mickelson's game: He has won the Masters twice and posted eight other top-10 finishes. He tied for 24th last year.

DiMarco's plunge: Three years ago, Chris DiMarcoengaged Woods in a riveting Masters duel. DiMarco shot a final-round 68, nearly chipped in on the 72nd hole and pushed Woods into a sudden-death playoff. DiMarco climbed to No. 7 in the world rankings after his runner-up finish.

Now, after fighting various injuries and a sagging game, he's No. 140 in the rankings - and not even in the field at Augusta. This will be the first Masters that DiMarco has missed since 2000.